  &quot;Emily. Open up.&quot; I pound on the door at the end of the hall on the sixth floor. The third time I knock, it swings wide to reveal Rica. &quot;She&quot;s not here, lover boy.&quot; &quot;Do you know when she&quot;s getting back?&quot; She shrugs, glancing over her shoulder. &quot;Few days, I think. She asked me to feed Heath.&quot; The goldfish circles his tank as if everything&quot;s right with the world. It&quot;s not right. I shove both hands through my hair. &quot;I&quot;ve been calling her all day since the showcase.&quot; &quot;Bet it&quot;s hard. Sounds like your phone&quot;s the one blowing up.&quot; She&quot;s not wrong. The thing jumps in my pocket every damned minute. The performance was good&mdash;better than good. But it wasn&quot;t right&hellip; because she wasn&quot;t with me. I head back to my place, my breath huffing in the November air, and find a new slew of

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  <div id="quillEditor" class="episode-content ql-editor">&quot;So, then he moons the cops and runs ten blocks with his pants around his knees,&quot; Avery says, clanking her glass on the side table in the dressing room for emphasis. &quot;And this guy&quot;s running for treasurer?&quot; I reply. &quot;Apparently.&quot; We&quot;re backstage after Frank&quot;s second show in LA. The past two days have been nuts between rehearsals and soundchecks and hanging out with my friend. It feels strange not doing my own material after all my work for the showcase. But I&quot;m working&mdash;as a singer. Frank&quot;s people not only paid for the hotel&mdash;I&quot;m actually getting compensated. &quot;Emily! That&quot;s Emily Carlton. Eddie Carlton&quot;s kid.&quot; I turn to see the guys bent over the coffee table, and Frank waves me over. &quot;You mu

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  <div id="quillEditor" class="episode-content ql-editor">&quot;Have you talked to your dad?&quot; Andie whispers from her spot next to me in the last row of pews. I shake my head. &quot;And the deposit that usually comes to my account isn&quot;t there.&quot; Andie takes the Bible in the pew in front of her, fingering the pages. &quot;That sucks.&quot; We&quot;re at the funeral of a man I don&quot;t know&mdash;a banker, apparently, who loved fly fishing. No one seems particularly torn up he&quot;s gone except for a woman we passed on the way in who said she was his granddaughter. I gave her the entire stash of tissues from my bag, and the guilt I felt for being here was washed out by the gratitude on her face. It&quot;s been nearly a week since my dad showed up in New York and I told Timothy I needed space. Since then, we&quot;ve rehearsed t

&quot;Emily. Open up.&quot; I pound on the door at the end of the hall on the sixth floor. The third time I knock, it swings wide to reveal Rica. &quot;She&quot;s not here, lover boy.&quot; &quot;Do you know when she&quot;s getting back?&quot; She shrugs, glancing over her shoulder. &quot;Few days, I think. She asked me to feed Heath.&quot; The goldfish circles his tank as if everything&quot;s right with the world. It&quot;s not right. I shove both hands through my hair. &quot;I&quot;ve been calling her all day since the showcase.&quot; &quot;Bet it&quot;s hard. Sounds like your phone&quot;s the one blowing up.&quot; She&quot;s not wrong. The thing jumps in my pocket every damned minute. The performance was good&mdash;better than good. But it wasn&quot;t right&hellip; because she wasn&quot;t with me. I head back to my place, my breath huffing in the November air, and find a new slew of texts and voicemails. One missed call from Emily has me relieved because it means she&quot;s not avoi

CHAPTER 37